Groundbreaking Spaceport agreement means space travel could take off from Cornwall

The facility at Cornwall Airport Newquay will initially launch satellites but could eventually host space tourism flights with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, with 480 jobs and £25m promised for the county

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Spaceport Cornwall said that it would lead to a £1 billion investment by Virgin Orbit and could create up to 480 jobs and bring £25 million into the Cornish economy annually.

The spaceport will be used to launch satellites into orbit and could send fee-paying passengers on sub-orbital flights (Image: MDG)

Virgin Orbit has been operating from the US to date and is due to undertake some test launches next month.

The partnership with Virgin could lead to further deals with the company to take on other aspects of its space business, including Virgin Galactic, which could launch space tourism flights from Newquay.

Today's announcement sees a partnership being made which includes Spaceport Cornwall, Virgin Orbit, Cornwall Council and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The spaceport will be used to launch satellites into orbit and could send fee-paying passengers on sub-orbital flights (Image: MDG)

LEP chairman Mark Duddridge said that the UK space industry was worth about £7 billion and employed more than 38,000 people.

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He added: "When I was growing up my ambition was to be a train driver. Now children and young people can get involved in space, space exploration and satellites. It is very exciting."

Cornwall Council chief executive Kate Kennally said: "We are pleased that the market has chosen us as the site of this spaceport. The announcement will enable us to have further discussions with the marketplace to capture some of that market here in Cornwall."

Patrick McCall, Managing Director Virgin Group and Chairman of Virgin Orbit’s Board of Directors, said: “Cornwall can deliver new launch capabilities for the UK quickly and efficiently by upgrading Cornwall Airport Newquay to support our horizontal air-launch platform.

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"The Cornwall partnership allows us to grasp important market share, gain instant global launch market credibility and, with the technology already being tested in the US, further lower our risk.”

Mr Carden explained that by securing an agreement with Virgin Orbit Spaceport Cornwall will be able to secure the licenses needed so that launches can be made from Newquay.

He explained that Virgin Orbit uses Boeing 747 aircraft to launch satellites into space and that it would be this technology which would be used.

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Funding will be required to get the spaceport off the ground but the aim at present is to try to get that investment from central government and commercial operators.

Kate Kennally said that at this stage there was no commitment from Cornwall Council to provide funding but that could change in the future if necessary.

She said: "We see this as a commercial spaceport. We are working on the basis to attract a whole range of commercial operators with very little government subsidy, that is from central government or Cornwall Council."

She added that Spaceport Cornwall would be carrying out a marketing campaign to get other partners onboard now that Virgin Orbit has signed up.

"We are not going to build a white elephant with a whole load of upfront cost, this will be something that will grow in line with the demands of the market," she said.